West Indies fail to qualify for Champions Trophy, Bangladesh make cut

Dubai: In what can be termed as the lowest ebb in island's cricket history, the West Indies have failed to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England as they were not among the top eight ODI teams as per ICC rankings on September 30, 2015, paving the way for Bangladesh's entry.

It will be the first time since its inception year in 1998 (when Champions Trophy used to be known as Mini World Cup) that assortment of Caribbean nations will not be a part of a premier event.

Bangladesh will return to the Champions Trophy for the first time since 2006 after the eight sides were confirmed for the 2017 tournament, which will be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) from June 1 to 18.

Bangladesh's last participation in the ICC Champions Trophy was in India, when it featured in the qualifying round. It lost to Sri Lanka (by 37 runs) and the West Indies (by 10 wickets). Its only victory was against Zimbabwe by 101 runs.

Since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Bangladesh cricket team has been on a high and has produced very strong performances. It won ODI series against Pakistan, India and South Africa, which has helped it jump from ninth to seventh in the ICC ODI Team Rankings.

The Champions Trophy 2017 will be a 15-match tournament, with teams split into two groups of four, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semifinals. The groups and the schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy will be announced in due course.

With the sides for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 now confirmed, the next important qualification date in the diaries of the 12 teams on the ICC ODI Team Rankings will be September 30, 2017. That is the date when the top eight ranked sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings will earn direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to be hosted by the ECB.

The bottom four sides will get a second chance to complete the 10-team line-up in the ICC Cricket World Cup when they will be joined by teams from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.

As such, all bilateral ODI cricket in the lead up to September 20, 2017, including the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, will now have greater importance as only 27 points separate second-ranked India from ninth-ranked West Indies.